Contrary to what some might believe, doctors don’t necessarily resist new technology – if it will make them more efficient. At least two-thirds of physicians in a new survey by MedData Group reported using some kind of mobile app on the job, and most often they’re using it to check medication interactions.
But there are also several other things they would like to use mobile technologies to do, like access electronic health records, send secure texts, and get drug, device and diagnosis information at the point of care.
As part of its market research program, marketing firm MedData Group surveyed 500 physicians from its database between December 2013 and March 2014 on their perceptions of connected health. The results suggest that physicians use mobile apps for time and cost efficiency purposes, more so than to improve quality of care or communicate with patients.
Behind checking medication interactions, about one in four physicians said they’re using mobile apps to help with diagnosis. Fewer than 20 percent reported using them to access electronic health records; labs, images and tests; clinical notes or e-prescribing.
Nearly 60 percent said they would like mobile access to EHRs, and more than 40 percent said they would use secure texting. The biggest barriers to adoption of these technologies is ensuring security and HIPAA compliance, lacking interoperability with other technologies and organizations, and paying for them, MedData Group said.
Many physicians remain optimistic about the opportunities that a fully-connected healthcare environment would present, like having instant access to patients’ medical records. However, they’re skeptical that the American healthcare system will be truly connected any time soon. Nearly 60 percent of respondents think it will take more than five years to get there. About 9 percent said it would never get there.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Why so skeptical? More than 70 percent said cost is the biggest factor to a fully connected healthcare system, but more than half of respondents also cited technology, physicians’ resistance to change, and privacy and security concerns as challenges.
[Images from MedData Group]
